12/28/2020
Following Jesus and His commandments is glorious, fulfilling, and brings us many blessings, but let there be no doubt... it also comes at a cost. We are told forthright that we must bear our cross to be His disciples. And if we look at the pain and suffering that His cross brought Him, we quickly realize what ours will bring to us... and when we become a Christian there is no escaping this reality.
“Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:27 ESV
God calls us to Him, and Jesus stands at the door and knocks, but are we prepared to turn our backs on the world, and all the sin we have engaged in there? Knowing the carnal pleasures that we have experienced are we ready to give them up to bear a cross in this world, even if it brings us eternal peace and joy as it’s reward in heaven?
“Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.”
Matthew 19:27-29 ESV
Following Jesus, and becoming men and women of faith might mean that we must leave our family, or give up the houses we have built for ourselves. Whatever we suffer as we pick up our cross, and carry it through life, will be rewarded many fold for, but as we are engaged in it, we will find it to be costly... and consider it a price we must pay.
Coming to Jesus is not a trivial matter! It certainly has much about it that is good, and desirable, but are we ready to face what the world will bring against us as a result of our decision? Are prepared to walk away from the earthly possessions, and sins, we once considered pleasurable? Before making that decision to follow Christ we must seriously consider all that it requires of us, and approach it with absolute resolve.
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”
Luke 14:28-30 ESV
If we consider our decision, and decide to to follow the Lord Jesus Christ then indescribable wonders await us, but interspersed within them we will also face things that we consider to be costly.. yet with full knowledge. There will be times when we will attend weddings and drink the wine that Jesus provides, but there will also be those times when we ask God to take the cup from us. There will be times when we see souls restored, but others when we watch those we once called friends or disciples lost.
Are we fully resolved to follow Jesus? Are we ready to love God, and His Son, even if it means that we not only pick up our cross, but eventually reach Calvary with it? Can we obey, as Jesus did, God’s purpose for sending Him to us, and deliver souls... even at great cost?
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
God desires every one of us to be His children, and to be believers, and followers of Jesus so that we will be made pure, and righteous in Him. He wants us to receive His peace, joy, and all the other blessings that are prepared for us, and to abide with Him eternally, but he will not force us into this... it must be our choice, and for that decision to be meaningful it must come at a cost to us, and be validated at a price... just as His was in sending Jesus.
Are we fully considering our choice in accepting Christ as our Lord? Are we not only prepared for the blessings he offers us, but for the cross as well?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for calling us, and for your Son who stands knocking at our door. Thank you for your mercy, and the grace you extend to us. Thank you Holy Father for redeeming us through Jesus, and for giving us the strength of faith necessary to endure the sufferings of our cross as we follow Him. We long for eternity with you, even as we dread the price that this world will extract from us by our choice. Give us strength, and strengthen our resolve in the faith we have chosen in Christ. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who has paid such a great price to redeem us from sin, and yet requires so little from us in its acceptance. Praised be your name for the pain and suffering we face, and for your help in overcoming it. You sent angels to strengthen your Son Jesus, and we feel them about us as we pray in our own Gardens of Gethsemane. Glorious are you, and may we always bring more glory to your name through our lives of faith, and righteousness. Hear our prayers Father as we call out to you in the name of Jesus... made clean and pure in His blood, and desiring to be with you forevermore. Look upon us, and see your Son Jesus abiding there... let his presence make us worthy of your good judgement, and a seat at your table for eternity.
“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:2-5 ESV
Rich Forbes